10
15
Kong. The same does not hold good in the small area
known as the "New Territories" leased by China to
Britain, for defensive purposes, in 1898 for a period
of 99 years. Here every attempt was made to accommodate
the new regime to the existing organization of the
village communities, subject always to the overriding
validity of the laws of the Colony. It is suggested
ul
that the New Territories Registration Ordinance might
profitably be studied in detail, particularly as
regards the registration of landed property and the
exceptional powers of the local Land Officer. The
existing title deeds when the territory was taken
over were often obscure, and the task of the early
Land Court to give them legal form was a heavy one;
but it is probably on some such lines that China
will have to proceed if her vast agricultural area
is to be brought into some conformity with modern
legal usage.